The invention relates to marine drives, and more particularly to the mounting structure for locking the propeller to the propeller shaft.
It is known in the prior art to lock the propeller nut on the propeller shaft by bending one or more tabs of a locking tab washer into slots of the rear thrust hub. This prevents the propeller nut from rotating, whereby the nut retains the propeller on the propeller shaft.
While the noted locking tab washer has proven useful for its intended purpose, it is quite difficult to unlock, which in turn makes propeller removal difficult. Special tools are required to bend the tabs back out of the slots, in order to remove the nut and the propeller.
The present invention addresses and solves the noted problem in a particularly effective manner and with particularly simple structure, and enables easy removal of the propeller nut without requiring special tools.